Islay Malts

Posted on 2004/08/04 23:13:00 (August 2004) by john.

A couple of new additions to my collection.

Recently my interest in whisky has been focusing almost exclusively on the Islay malts. I guess this is largely down to the simple fact that I seem to prefer Islay malts, they appear to me to be the most challenging and interesting of scotch whiskies. I've been particularly excited about two new additions to what is, perhaps inadvertently, become something of a collection.

Laphroaig 15 year old. Laphroaig is probablay the Islay malt I've had most experience of. Having finished my second or third bottle a while ago, I had been thinking recently of getting a replacement. For a bit of a change though, I thought, rather than going for the 10 year old, I'd give the 15 year old a go. I found it a bit of a surprise. I'd imagined it would taste about the same as the 10 year old, only, well, more so. In fact it seems age mellows the Laphroaig somewhat, and it goes from being the "bad boy" of single malts into something more refined and subtle, but somehow without being any less interesting and enjoyable.


Port Ellen 1979 (22 year old). Since I got into Islay malts I've had something of a fascination with the slightly mysterious Port Ellen. The distillery closed, seemingly for good, around 1983. Something appealed to me about the concept that there is now only a fixed amount of Port Ellen in the world, and so to own a bottle, and to have tasted it, would be something quite special. I've only had a quick sip so far, and it is a bit too early to comment on my findings in terms of how it is to drink. Still though, daft though it sounds, just owning it, given it's age (nearly as old as me!), and its rarity, is really quite great.


So here's my collection of Islay malts as it stands now. From left to right we have Bunnahabain, Bowmore Darkest, Port Ellen 1979, Lagavulin, Laphroaig 15 year old, Caol Ila and Bruichladdich 15 year old. There are, roughly speaking, eight distilleries* on the island of Islay. With the exception of Ardbeg (which I have had in the past) I now have one bottle from every distillery on the island.


* Seven operational (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabain, Bowmore, Ardbeg, Caol Ila), more or less, one (Port Ellen) operational until fairly recently, in whisky terms, plus one brand new distillery (Kilchoman).... Then a few which closed sufficiently log ago enough to make their whiskies impossible to come by for the comman man like me. The best bet of these is probably Malt Mill, which stopped production in 1963, so there might be the odd bottle available for some pretty extortionate prices. Before that it appears the most recent closure was Lochindaal, 1929, so presumably any surviving bottles from there are in museums, etc.

Can you actually define your Whiskey Cabinet as a collection? I assume that you are drinking them and therefore you are not intending to keep them indefinitely?

Posted by Kev at 2004/08/05 09:30:24.

All possesions are fleeting. Especially drinkable ones.

Posted by John at 2004/08/05 13:49:04.

Ah, but are they actually a collection - is my question.... I am sure there is another more suitable word that would describe your whiskey bottles, I just can't seem to put my finger on it.

Posted by Kev at 2004/08/05 13:54:37.

I would call your collection a renewable one of great interest and taste. People collect fine wines so why not a collection of even finer stuff Islay Malts. When you are feeling poor try a bottle of Black Bottle the finest blended whisky around.

Posted by Clark at 2004/08/28 12:39:38.

I am a fan of Laphroaig since first tasting it some 12 years ago. On my way through th airport this x-mas I picked up a bottle of Ardbeg. What a find. I thought Laphroaig was dense but this baby was perfect witha wee bit of water under the indian sun.
Happy Burns night.
(sat at me desk with a wee dram of Talisker, welll me colleague is from Barra!).

Posted by honeyman at 2006/01/25 16:10:57.

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